John Gaskill earned tournament MVP honors after scoring 19 points and leading Philomath, Ore., to a 57-44 victory over host Ketchikan in the Dec. 30 championship game of the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic.

Gaskill and Cody Pepper, who scored 10 points, were the only Warriors to finish in double-digit scoring for the title game, but Greg Oliver and Aaron Davis added eight points each for Philomath. Oliver joined Gaskill on the all-tournament team.

"It was worth the trip to come here and win a championship against a very good Kayhi team," Oliver told the Ketchikan Daily News.

The Warriors were making their second trip to the championship game of the CCCC, where they took second place in 2002 to Marist, Ore. The last time Ketchikan won the title of its own tourney was in 2001.

The title game was tied 27-27 at halftime, but Philomath coach Blake Ecker told his team to settle down and run its plays, and that advice worked out to a quick 10-point lead in the third quarter. Philomath eventually took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter, but Ketchikan closed the margin to six points before the Warriors regained their momentum.

Derek Clark scored 13 points to lead the Kings (5-4 overall, 2-1 in the tournament), while Jesse LeBeau added eight points and Casey Bass scored seven. All three Kings made the all-tournament team.

Layte Hudson scored 12 points and made the all-tournament team for fifth-place Metlakatla (1-2 overall, 1-2 tournament), while Donald Tompkins added 11 points, Creighton Boyd scored 10 and Chris Nathan had eight for the Chiefs, who won the tournament last year.

The Prince Rupert (British Columbia) Rainmakers took fourth place with a 62-31 victory over cross-town rival Charles Hays, which took sixth place, while the St. Helena (Calif.) Saints beat the Houston Hawks 52-32 in Thursday's seventh-eighth place game.

In the junior varsity tournament, the Petersburg JV beat the Ketchikan JV 44-35 in Thursday's championship game as Kayhi missed all of its free throws. Cam Severson scored 19 points to lead the Vikings and Clayton Milton had 20 points to lead the Kings. The Ketchikan C team took third place with a 66-51 victory over the fifth-place Charles Hays JV, and the Prince Rupert JV took fourth with a 57-54 victory over the sixth-place Craig JV.

In Wednesday's varsity semifinal games, LeBeau scored 27 points as Ketchikan beat Metlakatla 79-48, and Gaskill and Oliver scored 19 points each to lead Philomath over Craig 69-45. In Ketchikan's victory, Tyler Richardson scored 16 points and Thomas Montgomery added nine, while Nathan, Clifton Guthrie and Tompkins scored 11 points each to lead Metlakatla. Hamilton led Craig with 20 points in its loss.

In Monday's opening round, Ketchikan scored the game's first 27 points en route to a 92-37 victory over Houston, which was missing several players due to ineligibility and family commitments. Beau Poppen scored 13 points to lead Kayhi, while LeBeau added 11 points and Kyle Howe had 10.

Craig beat St. Helena 69-61 on Monday as Hamilton scored 18 points, and Gamble and Mike Demmert had 10 each.

Manfred Bekeris scored 15 points and tournament most valuable player Andrew Broschat added eight as the Sitka Wolves boys basketball team beat Lumen Christi of Anchorage 49-31 on Dec. 30 in the boys championship game of the Holland America Tournament in Sitka.

In the girls tournament final on Dec. 30, Sitka center Kim Dodson - the tourney MVP - scored 27 points to lead the Wolves to a 47-28 victory over David Douglas High School of Portland, Ore.

The Class 4A Sitka boys (5-1 overall, 3-0 tournament) took a 15-4 lead on Lumen Christi - the defending Class 2A state champion - after the first quarter and maintained a double-digit lead throughout. Tommy Stonebreaker scored 10 points and Keith Stedman added eight for Sitka. Kevin McNeal scored 13 points to lead Lumen Christi.

"How you start the season is a big deal," Sitka boys coach Mike Blewett told the Daily Sitka Sentinel. "It's huge for confidence for a team that hasn't won a lot in recent years to start winning."

Earlier in the tournament, Sitka beat Soldotna 55-41 on Dec. 29 behind 22 points from Broschat - including 10-for-10 free-throw shooting - and 12 points from E.B. Crow. The Wolves trailed 12-11 after the first quarter before a second-quarter run gave them a 31-19 lead at halftime. Soldotna got 21 points from Matt Hicks.

Broschat scored 26 points and Bekeris added 12 as the Sitka boys beat Bethel 66-48 on Dec. 28 to open the tournament. After building a big lead early, Sitka allowed Bethel to climb back into the game. The Warriors trailed by just six - 48-42 - midway through the fourth quarter before the Wolves went on an 18-6 run to end the game. Bethel's Nick Holman led his team with 21 points.

In the girls tournament, Tawny Hoyt added six points for Sitka in its championship win over David Douglas as the Wolves (5-1 overall, 3-0 tournament) took a commanding 29-8 lead at halftime. Kelsey Mattsen and Allyson Smith led the Lady Scots with six points apiece.

"I'm very excited and very pleased with our performance," Sitka girls coach Rich Krupa told the Sentinel. "We're playing these tough teams so we can get ready for Juneau and we can get ready for Ketchikan. ... And we really believe we can beat them."

Earlier in the tournament, Dodson scored 33 points and Joy Ribao added seven as Sitka beat Soldotna 59-44 on Dec. 29, while Dodson scored 19 points in a 53-23 opening win over Bethel on Dec. 28 that saw the Wolves take a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.

"Kim is an outstanding player," Krupa said of his senior center. "She works hard, and I don't believe there is a better post in the state."

Results of non-Sitka tournament games were not available. The Sitka boys and girls' next games are at home against Palmer on Jan. 14-15.

Yakutat, Kake boys split

Timothy Demmert scored 23 points and Shawn Jackson added 18 for Kake as the Thunderbirds held off a rally by the visiting Yakutat Eagles for a 58-56 win on Monday.

On Tuesday, Yakutat's Sam Ferguson scored 17 points as the Eagles beat the Thunderbirds 47-39 to salvage a split of the Southeast-Class 2A series.

On Tuesday, Yakutat trailed by two points - 32-30 - entering the final period before pulling out the win with a 17-7 run to end the game. Dierick scored 10 points - including seven in the fourth quarter - for the Eagles. Demmert scored 13 points and Trevor Morris added 12 for Kake.

Yakutat girls sweep Kake

Jacquoi James scored 13 points for Yakutat on Tuesday as the Eagles completed a two-game region sweep with a 42-21 win over the host Kake Thunderbirds.

In Monday's game, James scored a game-high 20 points to lead Yakutat to a 46-31 win over Kake.

The Skagway boys and girls basketball teams will host an international field of competition for the annual Don Hather Tournament, which starts today and runs through Saturday.

The host Panther boys will be joined by Southeast-Class 2A rivals Thorne Bay and Hoonah, along with the Juneau-Douglas junior varsity and two teams from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory - Vanier and Porter Creek.

The girls field includes the host Panthers, Hydaburg, Hoonah, the Juneau JV, Vanier and F.H. Collins of Whitehorse.

The Hydaburg girls and Thorne Bay boys will stay in town for a series of region games on Jan. 10-11. Tournament results will run next week in the Empire.

 The Juneau Empire's weekly Southeast Hoops Roundup feature is compiled by Charles Bingham and Andrew Krueger from results sent to the Empire by school athletic directors and team coaches. Scoresheets and/or game highlights should be faxed to 1-907-586-3028 (attention sports) or e-mailed to sports@juneauempire.com by noon on Monday so this feature and region standings can be compiled. For more information, call the Empire sports desk at 1-907-586-3740.